Circular watercraft

ABSTRACT

A saucer shaped water craft hull has a plurality of sockets which make it readily adaptable to many different uses and applications.

United States Patent 1 Sorenson 1 Jan. 16, 1973 [54] CIRCULAR WATERCRAFT 3,158,882 12/1964 Kibby "9 3105 [76] Inventor: Hugh E. Sorenson, 3818-AN-37th i g 2 25 Street Milwaukee Wis. 53216 I 3,548,428 12/1970 Eades ..9/1 A 22 Filed; Aug. 20 1 970 3,137,873 6/1964 Garrolini ..9/3l0 E [21] Appl. No.: 65,440 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS I 1,027,385 4/1966 Great Britain ..9/1 A [52] US. Cl ..9/l,114/39 [51] Int. Cl. ..B63h 9/04 im ry Ex minerMilt0n Bu hler [58] Field of Search ..9/1 A, 1 R, 2 R, 2 C, 2 F, A sistant Examin rE. R- Kazenske 9/2 S, 2 A, 3, 6, 6.5, 7.11 R, 7.11 A, 400, Att0rneyAlter, Weiss & Whitesel [57] ABSTRACT [56] References Cited A saucer shaped water craft hull has a plurality of UNITED STATES PATENTS sockets which make it readily adaptable to many different uses and applications. 2,844,120 7/1958 Nelson "9/1 A 3,371,636 3/1968 Sharp ..114/39 6 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJAH 16 I975 INVENTOR HUGH E. SORENSON BY 44%, (aw (MM ATTO RN EYS CIRCULAR WATERCRAFT My invention relates to a water craft, and more particularly to a circular saucer shaped disc that is designed to float on the surface of the water.

Many different types of boats are regularly used for sport, pleasure or transportation. Usually, every different type of boat has a different hull design. If a boat is purchased for one use, it is not readily adaptable for another. Moreover, the specialized hull design usually involves a high cost. i

Accordingly, there is a need for a universal hull design which a person might use as a novelty craft one day, transportation another, and sport another. Obviously, such a non-specialized design must sell for a very low cost. Otherwise, the efficiency of more specialized hulls will overcome the advantages of the general design.

An object of my invention is to provide a low cost hull or water device that is equipped with means for supporting various accessories for manipulating as a row boat, a sail boat or a power boat.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of the character described that may be constructed in any size for many uses, such as a toy or a boat large enough to accommodate several persons.

Still another object of the invention is to construct the hull device with a number of permanent adaptors for supporting various optical actuating units and accessories.

In keeping with an aspect of the invention, these and other objects are provided by a saucer shaped hull having a number of sockets, adaptors, and other units. By the addition of masts, outboard motors, keels, etc., the boat can be given different sailing characteristics.

Other and further objects of the invention will become more apparent as the description proceeds, when taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of the assembled device used as a sail-boat;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the device, used with an outboard motor driven unit;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the device, showing the various adaptor, sockets, etc. for supporting a variety of accessories;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of a portion of the device showing an adaptor socket for receiving a mast;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view showing an adaptor socket for supporting a seat;

FIG. 6 is still another cross-sectional view of a portion of the device, showing a sealing adaptor for closing a socket extending through the hull;

FIG. 7 is a cross-section ofa portion of the hull illustrating an adaptor for a keel mounting, or the like; and

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a balancing weight inserted into the keel support.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts and features throughout the several views. More particularly, the character 10 identifies a saucer shaped body of the hull or water craft device. While the hull may be constructed of any suitable type of material such as metal or plastic, I prefer to use a low cost constructiomThe craft is here shown circular in contour,

but may also be hexagon or octagon in shape, and if desired, the upper peripheral edge 11 may befolded over to form a head (not shown) for added rigidity.

The body 10 is shown with a circular recess 12 at its bottom. The upper surface of the recess l2is equipped with various sockets or adaptors for converting the craft to different uses. For example, in FIG. 4, I show a support 13 designed as an adaptor for a vertical mast 14 (see FIG. 1) for supporting a sail 15. This way the device may be used as a sail-boat.

Centrally disposed within the recess 12, I show another socket or adaptor 16 for supporting a seat consisting of a top plate 17 and a vertical stem 18 (see FIG. 2). Obviously, this seat arrangement may also be replaced with a board 19 (see FIG. 1), which board extends horizontally across the hull and is supported on both of its ends by the radial sides. of the body 10. The board lends greater strength to the hull.

If the device is to employ a power driven unit, as shown in FIG. 2, a wall or tubular adaptor 20 may form a well for receiving an outboard motor. When a motor is not used, a glass may fill the bottom of the well 20 to form a glass bottom boat.

There is no need to seal the top of well 20 when it extends a sufficient distance above the water line. Howmay be sealed as disclosed in FIG. 6. More particularly,

when not in use, a hole in the bottom of the craft may be equipped with a screw plug 2]. having an O ring 21a. When the plug is removed, the hole 20a acts as a support to accommodate a motor rod 22 or a rudder stem 25, as shown in FIG. 1. The plug 2] and O ring 21a are inserted into the adaptor 200 when not in use.

In FIGS. 7 and 8, I show channels 26 forming a part of the body 10 and extending downwardly therefrom to slidably receive and support a keel 27 (see FIG. 7) or a weight 28 as shown in FIG. 8 if desired.

From the above description, it will become apparent that the device is simple in construction and serves a multiple purpose. It is easy to adjust and arrange without special mechanical skill. Although I have shown a specific construction and arrangement of the parts and features, the claims should be construed to cover all equivalents and changes which do not depart from the spirit or the scope of my invention.

I claim:

1. A generally circular saucer-shaped hull for a watercraft comprising a centrally positioned circularlyshaped disk plate with curved convex outsidewalls rising therefrom, a plurality of adaptors or sockets and a well means formed in said hull, first adaptors and well means being located at approximately the junction between said disk and said curved walls aligned along a diameter center line of said circle, said first adaptors or sockets being positioned inside said hull to receive and support rods or masts for seats or sail, a second adaptor extending below said hull and forming a single channel centrally located along said diameter center line on the bottom of said hull to receive and support keels and weights in a longitudinal alignment along the diameter center line of the boat, and said well means being positioned on said diameter center line between the gunwale and the center of the boat, said well means providacts as a fin in cooperation with said propeller for giving said boat a preferred direction of travel.

comprising said well extends from below the hull up through the inside of the bull to a level higher than the waterline.

6. The watercraft of claim 5 and means for sealing the bottom of said well with a transparent plate when said well is not in use for supporting an outboard motor. 

1. A generally circular saucer-shaped hull for a watercraft comprising a centrally positioned circularly-shaped disk plate with curved convex outside walls rising therefrom, a plurality of adaptors or sockets and a well means formed in said hull, first adaptors and well means being located at approximately the junction between said disk and said curved walls aligned along a diameter center line of said circle, said first adaptors or sockets being positioned inside said hull to receive and support rods or masts for seats or sail, a second adaptor extending below said hull and forming a single channel centrally located along said diameter center line on the bottom of said hull to receive and support keels and weights in a longitudinal alignment along the diameter center line of the boat, and said well means being positioned on said diameter center line between the gunwale and the center of the boat, said well means providing a support member for an outboard motor having its propeller aligned with said channel whereby said keel acts as a fin in cooperation with said propeller for giving said boat a preferred direction of travel.
 2. The watercraft of claim 1 wherein a third of said adaptors comprises sockets or openings formed in and passing through said hull.
 3. The watercraft of claim 2 and a plug for sealing said opening when not in use.
 4. The watercraft of claim 3 wherein said plug is a screw and a resilient ''''O'''' ring sealed under the head of said plug.
 5. The watercraft of claim 2 wherein said opening comprising said well extends from below the hull up through the inside of the hull to a level higher than the water line.
 6. The watercraft of claim 5 and means for sealing the bottom of said well with a transparent plate when said well is not in use for supporting an outboard motor. 